More women in job market boost September employment — PSA

Metro Manila, Philippines — More female workers entered the labor market in September, significantly bringing down the unemployment rate for a second straight month.

The jobless rate in September was 3.7% from 4% in August, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

This meant 37 in 1,000 Filipinos participating in the labor force were jobless.

The number translates to 1.89 million people without work, down from 2.07 million in August, according to preliminary data.

Around 49.87 million people were employed in September from 49.15 million the previous month, PSA said. In terms of employment rate, it was 96.3% in September from 96% in the previous month.

“That shows vibrant ‘yong ating labor market [That shows our labor market is vibrant]. The economy can absorb more workers and, thus, these female workers,” National Statistician Dennis Mapa said.

Mapa said out of the 2.21 million more people in the labor market in September year-on-year, female workers accounted for 1.34 million compared to male workers of around 862 million.

“Sa 1.344 million, 744,000 sa kanila considered wage and salaried workers, so ‘yong substantial underemployment pwede dun sa non-salaried workers,” Mapa said.

[Translation: Out of the 1.344 million, 744,000 of them are considered wage and salaried workers, so the substantial underemployment can be linked to the non-salaried workers.]

“The number talaga substantial ‘yon and nakikita natin ‘yong last three months, if you look at year-on-year for female workers and their participation rate makikita niyo na tumataas siya and that is good,” Mapa said. “However, the concern sa underemployment, we have jobs and we are seeing it. The next challenge, of course, is ‘yong quality of jobs.”

[Translation: The number is substantial. In the last three months, if you look at year-on-year for female workers and their participation rate, you can see it’s increasing and that is good. However, the concern is underemployment. We have jobs and we are seeing it. The next challenge, of course, is the quality of jobs.]

The underemployment rate rose to 11.9% from 11.2% in August. This translated to 5.94 million people considered by PSA who are still looking for extra work hours to earn more.

“‘Yong 2.21 million na pumasok sa labor market na na-absorb as employed, hindi lahat sila ay full-time, that’s why ‘yong 831,000 ang marami doon ay ‘yong invisible underemployment,” Mapa said.

[Translation: Not all of the 2.21 million people that entered the labor market and absorbed as employed were working full-time. That’s why the 831,000 underemployed, most of them are considered as invisible underemployment.]

The services sector remained the top job generator. Year-on-year, administrative and support services, especially call center activities (voice), had the highest number of additional workers at around 735,000.

In the coming months, the PSA is looking forward to more employed people, especially in retail trade, due to the holiday season.

However, successive storms in October could also affect those in the agriculture sector, which Mapa said usually find work in the services sector, among other opportunities.